HEART MOUNTAIN

WHY WERE INTERNMENT FACILITIES NEEDED?

• Since Pearl Harbor many people were worried about the Japanese
• Sent innocent Japanese-Americans to these camps
• About 120,000 people that were taken to the camps were U.S. citizens

WHAT IS THE PACIFIC MILITARY ZONE?

HOW WERE THE JAPANESE TREATED AT THE START OF THE WAR?

• They were treated the same as anyone else
• Nobody knew what they were planning

LOCATION OF CAMP?

• Powell, Wyoming

WHY WAS IT LOCATED THERE?

WHEN DID IT OPEN?

• August 11, 1942
• This was when the first load of people came

WHEN DID IT CLOSE?

• November 10, 1945
• This is when the last load of people left

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PEOPLE'S POSSESSIONS?

• They left them where they were
• Houses, cars, and big items were not allowed inside the barbed fences
• Some were allowed toys or small items

WHAT DID PEOPLE DO IN THE CAMP?

• Nisei were permitted to work at Heart Mountain
• In additional to agricultural jobs, they worked in the motor pool, the mess halls, the fire and police departments, and many other places where their labor helped make the community function
• The WRA paid $12, $16, or $19 per month, depending on the skill level of the work

WHAT WERE LIVING CONDITIONS AND RATIONS LIKE?

• Each unit was furnished only with a stove for heat, a light fixture in the center of the room and an army cot and two blankets for each person
• Each block had a mess hall, unpartitioned toilet and shower facilities and a laundry area

HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED IN THE CAMP?

• 148 people died

HOW WERE THE JAPANESE TREATED AFTER WWII

• It depended on the person
• Some had hard feelings towards any Japanese people, and disliked them
• Other people felt bad about what they did to Japanese-Americans, and felt they had to repay them in some way

WAS THERE ANY RESTITUTION GIVEN?

• Yes, after WWII in the year 1948, President Truman signed the Japanese-American Claims Act
• This act was a way to repay Japanese-Americans for their economic losses due to their forced evacuation
• Although about $38 million was to be paid out through provisions of the act, it would be largely ineffective

INTERNMENT VS. CONCENTRATION (DIFFERENCES)

INTERNMENT CAMPS

• Intended to keep potential threats contained
• Like a prison
• Motivated by a propaganda and distrust
• Rooms and cabins built to house them, that were furnished
• Given regular meals
• Worked for small wages, not till death
• Were allowed to join the army and become members of society

CONCENTRATION CAMPS

• Designed to exterminate
• Torture facilities
• Motivated by hate
• Sickness from lack of insulation in rooms
• Clothes were ragged and stripped from them
• Food was disproportionate and starvation occurred
• Never given a chance to prove loyalty

INTERNMENT VS. CONCENTRATION (SIMILARITIES)

• Guards
• No freedoms
• Barbed wire
• Racial prejudices
• Government cover-ups
• Everything was taken away from them

What do I think of these camps?

I do not like these camps, and I don't think they should've occurred. That is a lot easier to say now though, I don't know how I would have felt in that time. Many people were worried about Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor. I may have felt the same way given the situation. As for now though, I think it was a mistake to put them in these camps, and I believe we handled the situation incorrectly.

Work cited

https://prezi.com/fa2yzgopawyp/compare-and-contrast-japanese-internment-cam...

http://www.heartmountain.org/lifeincamp.html

http://www.heartmountain.org/faq.html